Flexible band for personal wear



CII

Patented Sept. 5, 1933 UNITED STATES PATENT ol-rlcrA Nobelt Company of America,

Baltimore, Md.,

a corporation of Maryland Application July 21, 1930. Serial No. 469,582

1 Claim.

The present invention relates to a stretchable member for personal wear and more especially t0 a stretchable band for garters, etc.

The present invention is an improvement upon the band disclosed in the Harsh Reissue Patent No. 16,641, May 31, 1927 In the said Harsh patent the band illustrated is entirely satisfactory for the purposes disclosed in the said reissue patent. However, the construction disclosed therein is not adaptable for all articles of personal wear, one of which is a garter. In the said reissue disclosure, a at sheet of rubber is disclosed as being enclosed in a stretchable textile sheath folded upon itself in such manner that the edges of the folded portions are adjacent one edge of the sheet of rubber and extend sidewise beyond the sheet of rubber. This sidewise extension forms an attaching portion by means of which the band is attached to a garment. This type of construction. is not well adapted for stretchable bands such as garters because of the extension of the cloth sheath laterally relative to the rubber band.

The present invention overcomes the diiculties of the known art by providing a constructionwherein a stretchable and elastic flat rubber band is enclosed within a sheath of stretchable textile material and wherein the edges of the stretchable sheath are enclosed within and covered and concealed by stretchable stitches comprising a double row of stitches secured together by cross threads extending between the .stitches of the double row in such manner that when the band is completed the edges are entirely concealed by the said stretchable stitching. This construction not only provides an extremely neat and artistic appearing article, but provides double strength to the seam at the overlapping edges, in that one row of stitches passes through one edge and the other row of stitches passes through the other edge of the stretchable sheath with the exterior edge of the sheath being adjacent one row of stitches and being held in place by the cross threads. When the band is finished, it is difficult without the most minute inspection to discover where the seam of the sheath occurs. The construction further comprises a second double row of stretchable stitches on the opposite edge of the band and extending parallel to the first mentioned double stitches. All of the stitches extend entirely through the band, that is, through both sides of the sheath and the intermediate elastic rubber sheet. The double row of stitches on the back of the band are plain stitches without any cross threads, so that the surface toward the skin of the wearer is a substantially smooth surface. The foregoing construction is particularly elastic, flexible and comfortable, and presents a surface to the wearer which minimizes friction and contributes to the comfortableA action of the device.

The drawing and disclosure herewith illustrate preferred embodiments of the present invention, although it is recognized that uses other than those herewith disclosed will be obvious to those skilled in the art, and that the present invention may be carried out by variations from the said disclosure. The disclosure herewith, therefore, is to be understood as illustrative and not in the limiting sense.

Fig. 1 illustrates a mans garter made in accoi-dance with the present invention showing a portion thereof broken away to more clearly illustrate the construction.

Fig. 2 is an edge view of a illustrated in Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is an enlarged plan view showing portions broken 'away to illustrate the seam on the outerside of the band.

Fig. 4 is an enlarged plan view of the back of the band illustrating the plain stitches.

Fig. 5 is a sectional view on line 5 5 of Fig. 3.

Referring now to the drawing and more especially to Figs. 3 and 4, the band A comprises a strip of elastic stretchable sheet rubber l enclosed in a sheath 2 of stretchable textile material and preferably of a material known in theart as silk jersey with the ribs of the jersey extending length- Wise of the band so that the sheath has its stretchable characteristics lengthwise of the band and with very little stretchability transverse of the band. The edges 4 and 5 of the sheath 2 are arranged to overlap lengthwise of the band adjacent one edge thereof. A double row of stitches, 6 and 7 extend through the sheath from front to back and through the intermediate sheet rubber 1. Preferably the row of stitches 6 extends through the outer edge 4 of the sheath while the looped row of stitches 7 extends through the inner edge 5 of the sheath'and very close to the terminal edge 4 of the sheath. Cross threads 3 extend on the outer face only of the sheath between the stitches 6 and 7 in such manner that these cross threads 3 securely hold the exposed edge 4 of the sheath in position while the looped stitches 7 substantially cover their edge. The construction is such that after the stitching is finished the edge 4 is invisible and cannot be discovered except by the most minute inspection. The stitches 6 and 7 on the back of the band as illustrated in Fig. 4 comprise straight plain stitches 8 and i).

portion of the band 7 Inorder to further anchor the sheet rubber 1 within the sheath 2, a second row of double stitches l0 and 11 areprovided on the opposite edge o thefband, thereby securely anchoring the rubber member in place and at the same time presenting a symmetrical appearance to the outer face of the band which is desirable from an artistic standpoint.

In the lmanufacture of the bland A a fiat piece of jersey cloth, with the stretchable characteristic thereof lengthwise, is laid out and the fiat' rubber strip 1 is laid thereover. The edges o'f the cloth are folded over the rubber and slightly over-lapped between the middle and one edge of the rubber. The hat folded parts are then sewed with the eiastic double row stitches as described. This method of manufacture permits the rubber and the sheath to be perfectly positioned before, the sewing takes place and insures the parts being iinaliy assembled and finished without Wrinkles and with the sheath and elastic rubber in neutral relation, that is, there is no initial set in the rubber sheet as is the case with rubber thread webbing.

Referring new more especially to Figs. l and 2 *which illustrate the band as adapted for a mans garter, the band A is anchored by suitable stitching in a pad B which carries a fastener button C and a hose support D. The end or" the band is folded upon itself and looped beneath a. sliding keeper E whereby the effective length` of the band may be adjusted at the convenience of the wearer. A fastener member F is provided at the looped portion of the end of the band and is adapted to cooperate with the garter is in use. The free end of the band A is sealed by a metal clip G which is clamped on the end of the band A. Depressions H are stamped into the metal clip G, thereby forming projections on the inner face of the clip which bite into the end of the band A and securely lock the metal clip in place while at the same time locking the sheath and the rubber tightly together to oomprise a terminal anchor for these members. The metal clip G is of sufficient thickness to resist fastener button C when the.

passing beneath the sliding keeper E so that when the band is used at substantially full length the clipG prevents the end of the band from escaping beneath the keeper E.

Fig. 2 more clearly illustrates this feature yof the invention by showing an edge view With portions of the band broken away as is illustrated in a part of Fig. 1.

Fig. 5 is a sectional View on line 5-5 of Fig. 3 and illustrates the relation of the parts in section. In Fig. 5 the separation of the parts is illustrated in exaggerated relation in order to more clearly bring out the construction.

From the foregoing it will be observed that the construction is such as to provide a band for personal Wear having an artistic appearance and at the saine time being a strong construction particulariy adapted for comfortable personal Wear.

What l claim isz- A stretchable band for a garter comprising a at strip of stretchable rubber, stretchable textile fabric comprising stretchable material folded around said rubber vstrip with the edges o single layers of said stretchable material being overlapped on a fiat side of said rubber strip and adjacent one edge thereof, and a double row of stretchable stitches adjacent said overlapped edges, one row of said stitches passing through said material and rubber strip adjacent one of said overlapped edges, and the other row of said stitches passing through said material and strip adjacent`v the other of said overlapped edges and cross threads on one side only of the .i

band joining said stitches and extending over the outer overlapped edge to conceal and protect the same, the stitches on the other side of the member .extending only in fthe direction of the length of the band, said rubber strip and vsaid stretchable material being sewed together in non-stretched relation so that theband normally vis unstretched to comprise a flexible garter band. l

ANDREW J.'KREIN. 

